Dodge Charger R/T V8 Review

Good-looking muscular saloon that’s almost a no-brainer
By Shahzad Sheikh

If you’re in the market for an affordable American V 8-powered rear drive car, what are your options?

Well you could opt for the Chevrolet Lumina SS, which, last time I looked packs a 360bhp punch for just under $32,000 – it’s remarkably practical and genuinely well sorted when it comes to handling. But it doesn’t exactly stand out from the crowd and those that know, know, the rest think you’ve just bought a sensible family saloon, with a spoiler.

If it’s coolness you’re after, there has been one choice and one choice alone thus far – the $34k base model Ford Mustang V8 coupe. It’s a firm favourite of mine and delivers all the thrills, the charm and the sheer charisma you expect from the Mustang nameplate. However it’s only available as a manual at this price, and when we say base, we’re talking cloth seats.

Try the Dodge Charger instead

But now there’s a new choice: the Dodge Charger. Now before we go any further, there’s a proviso: according to what Chrylser Middle East tells us, this car, in R/T trim with a potent V8 HEMI under the bonnet can be had less than $40k. However some dealers have priced it higher. No problem, go in there and bargain hard till you get it down to this.

But at around this money, it’s definitely worth a look-see: four-doors and a decent level of equipment including a brilliant sat-nav and touch-screen control panel. And there’s a couple of other things…

The previous Dodge Charger may have upset fans of the original Charger by sprouting two more doors, but it was as a result of a pragmatic approach by Dodge – those that originally aspired to the sexy two-door of the type that got hunted down by Steve McQueen in Bullit, had grown up, got responsible and sprouted a family of their own; so they could do with the extra ports and the increase comfort and practicality. Plus Dodge was getting a cast-off old Merc E-Class chassis from Chrysler group’s tie-up with Daimler, so wouldn’t have to start from scratch and hence it would have a new car, on sale, cheap and quick.

At the end of the day: it’s cool!

But despite the cynicism, Dodge pulled off a neat trick by one simple factor – the Charger looked pretty cool. Forget the shabby interior trim and dowdy cabin, it was cheap muscle for a family man on the budget that looked the part. And it maintained that appeal right up until the new Charger was launched.

The storied American carmaker that’s now emerging from crisis and a visit to the brink and which has found a new best friend – Fiat – has pulled off another clever trick with the 2011 Dodge Charger.

Some may refer to this as an extensive facelift and they wouldn’t be wrong entirely. Fundamentally, it’s a case of taking the existing mechanical package and drivetrain and tweaking it and making it better (although the V6 models do get the neat all-new Pentastar unit). But where the investment shows is on the surface both outside and inside.

The front of the car gets a nip and tuck to make it sharper, more confident and entirely contemporary whilst maintaining a very recognisable face. But look around to the sides and things start to change, there are gentle curves, and a scallop that has suddenly made the old car look tediously bland.

164 shiny LEDs for the most distinctive rear ever

And as for the rear, it’s gone from rather nondescript to the most glamorous and eye-catching aspect of the whole vehicle, and quite possibly the whole segment – an exquisite necklace of 164 perfectly futuristic LEDs that trace out the retro style of a full-width bank of taillights very much inspired by Mopars of yore. It’s a sensational fusion of new and old and works brilliantly – particularly at night.

Move inside and the dash is softer, the carbon-effect trim is way less tacky, there’s pseudo-classy leather trim on the doors, and the whole cabin takes on ambience of at least trying very hard to make you feel special and quite pleased with your environment, and yourself. It’s not the best, it’s not the poshest, it’s not entirely upmarket, but it’s soooo much better than before that it would induce future shock for any owner of a previous Charger.

And then there’s that massive screen and one of the best user interfaces on any car I’ve experienced – ever. A Garmin-sourced Sat Nav is a direction-finder-for-dummies with big clear illustrations and a simplicity of use that would be a revelation to designers of sat navs in even in the most luxurious cars.

Add into that a well integrated system that controls the stereo, climate, your phone and iPod connectivity – no wires required! – and there not being a fiddly, twiddly knob or an excess of buttons anywhere in sight and it could show some of the German marques the way home (literally). It’s all brilliantly simple touchscreen – just remember to keep a little piece of soft cloth in the glovebox to give it a wipe clean every now and then.
The Charger is comfy, with a good seating position, decent ergonomics, and plentiful space in the back, plus a generous boot.

Better composure, better handling

Start up the 5.7-litre HEMI V8, and it’s a grin-inspiring start to proceedings. The gearbox is pretty basic, so you stick it in drive and go, you can hold onto gear sequentially, but most of the time you won’t bother – it may be down on power compared to the Mustang, 370bhp versus 412bhp, but matches it for torque as 395lb ft plays 390lb ft, which means you have a lazy, lusty cruiser on your hands.

Floor the throttle, wait for a couple gears to drop, and a slightly strangled roar from the big motor is momentarily accompanied by a squatting of the behind and surging forward of the hulk at an increasing rate of knots. This is not a sports car, it’s barely a sports saloon, but it’ll bring the thunder when you want it.

To an extent it does have an old-skool American car feel to the body control, especially at lower speeds, but considering that comes with a decent dose of ride comfort and allows you to effortlessly ooze down the street, it’s no bad thing. Fortunately Dodge has taken the time to tighten things up closer to the limit, so press on and composure doesn’t fall apart. The car makes ample use of the tremendous grip and road-holding on offer, particularly with the larger tyre/wheel combo of the full-option model which makes up for the inherent dynamics. In fact with traction fully off, it’s possible to get wheelspins if you really try, but kicking the back around is not its natural forte.

It gamely hangs on to corners and manages direction changes better than the old car with far greater control. And let’s be honest, if you’re buying this sort of this car, you’re not exactly going to be taking it to track days.

The final word – buy it

All told though, I absolutely love the new Charger. In fact for me personally the only two things that would put me off buying one is that it doesn’t come with a manual gearbox, and that the back is a little too-well tied down to satisfy the hooligan in me, that occasionally emerges much to the detriment of my licence and wallet.
Frankly neither of these things are a problem for the vast majority of buyers here, and I can’t really give you a single solid reason why you should not just go out and buy one of these right now. If you’re looking for a fun, spacious, V8-powered saloon that’s got the charisma to match, and crucially, that is affordable to buy, look no further. At the money nothing should touch it.

Specs
Price: $34,000
Engine: 5700cc HEMI V8, 370bhp @ 5250rpm, 395lb ft @ 4200rpm
Performance: 5.3secs 0-100kph, 230kph, 13L/100
Transmission: five-speed auto, rear-wheel drive
Weight: 1927kg

Shahzad’s verdict
9/10 – Value-for-money muscle car that’s practical and cool-looking!

4 responses to “Dodge Charger R/T V8 Review”

  1. Pete says:

    Great Review!! Would love to see it in Australia
    Right Hand Drive Ofcoarse.
    A Six Speed Box for me would be a must
    maybe have a word o someone you know!

  2. Ryan Hamze says:

    I have the 2007 charger SXT.. amazing power! but lacks luxury on the inside

  3. Raman says:

    Hi Shahzad,

    Planning to buy Dodge V6 with leather trim…. but worried abt
    A/C performance, service issues and resale. wht do u advise me.

    Thanks Tc

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.